Walmart Third to Apple, Best Buy in February iPad Sales

Despite its current “Dr. Evil-like” scandal brewing at home and abroad, mega retailer Walmart has become a major factor in iPad sales as its partnership with Apple continues to grow. A study released this week by market research firm Consumer Intelligence Research Partners shows that the company sold more than 11 percent of all iPads in the United States in February, a significant number considering that Apple’s website and retail stores sold 26 percent of all iPads.

Chart by The Mac Observer from Consumer Intelligence Research Partners data.

The study, conducted in February, asked new iPad customers where they had purchased their product. As mentioned above, 26 percent of iPads were bought directly from Apple’s online and retail stores while long-time Apple partner Best Buy accounted for 24 percent. Walmart, with 11 percent, came in third, beating out retail competitors Amazon and Target.

Apple’s partnership with Walmart was highlighted by CEO Tim Cook during the company’s earnings call last Tuesday. “[Walmart] is a very good partner on iPod, and an increasingly more substantial partner in the iPad space. They are also an evolving partner on the iPhone,” he said while discussing Apple’s implementation of the “store-within-a-store” model being deployed at many Walmart locations.

It should be noted that the survey, conducted in February, accounted for iPad sales just prior to the new iPad’s launch in March. As a result, numbers since March have likely changed dramatically due to the different demographic of iPad purchasers and the increased availability of the device directly from Apple as compared to other retailers. Unfortunately, the research firm has no data yet on the time period since the latest iPad’s launch.